Sunday, 27 December 2009

Here it comes, gusting out of the hollows, breathing hard. The breeze of wind dragging rolling days, hours and minutes across the clocks face. 2010, I think it's safe to say is almost upon us. If you were to review the year and its 'culturally defining' moments - discovering Stephen Fry all over Twitter, the endless 'recession chic 'articles, Barack Obama's dog, the numerous high profile celebrity deaths peaking with Michael Jackson's suitably strange demise, James Cameron returning to cinema with a remake of 'Fern Gully', Robert Pattinson hysteria seemingly in all Women in their mid 20's, Kanye West making a huge cunt of himself AGAIN and of course Swine flu - in the background keeping us sane the music just carried on playing regardless. Attempting to drone out the sounds of the recession were some stonkingly good records - and despite Andy Blake wrapping up what was probably my favourite record label of the last few years when he decided to stop releasing records on his 'Dissident' imprint and in spite of Technics announcing that they were ending production of the SL 1210 - we found solace this year as a new host of characters made it onto our playlists. It is this optimism in music that when the likes of the Daily Mail would have us believe that you shouldn't leave the house due to a combination of social detritus, recession, child murderers and our countries immigration policy, reminds us that there is something deeper that quivers within us that we can call art or call music or call spiritual, we can call it the infinite, but it's that which engages us and no matter how cool we try and be and no matter much we try and separate ourselves from the world with expensive gadgets, bling and attitude, the beauty that is the truth is that we all know that inside we're all very soft people who yearn to love and be loved and art reminds us that is a possibility and music connects us with that important fact about ourselves, that we love love and that anything else is incidental, irrelevant, cynical and not interesting to us fundamentally and it is precisely this feeling which informs us that few things in life are more satisfying than the sight of a grinning Newcastle No. 9 with one arm raised in celebration or the introduction of Columbia's favourite national export to your nasal passages than the simple pleasure of dropping the needle of a record deck onto a slice of black vinyl and hearing that first warm, familiar crackle.

So, onto the main event. We've counted the votes, polled the great and the (not so) good of our favourite DJ's of recent times and asked everyone to chip in with their selections of the best from 2009 alongside our local fav's, and due to tastes and planetary alignments, these are the records we've been digging the most. Regarde,,,,Tourists albums of 2009:

5. Last Waltz * Criminal World. (Unreleased) As if this wouldn't get a mention! Technically this is a 2010 release but it's definitely more a tune of 2009 to us lot. With a couple of high profile remixes in the pipeline & some brilliant feedback already received from various folk "in the know" this could shape up to be quite a biggie! Try & track down the Metro original on Transatlantic records, brilliant!)

7. The Phantom Band * Checkmate Savage. (Chemikal Underground) I accidentally caught these live earlier in the year after going to see a friend support them & was absolutely blown away! Sounding kind of like a Krautrock Beta Band & kind of nothing like that at the same time they didn't disappoint on record either!

8. Various Artists * Originals Vol 2 compiled by Mark Seven. (Claremont 56) A superb DJ, Mark's A Slow Blow mix from a few years back still gets heavy rotation round my gaff, as does this amazing comp in a fantastic series from Paul "Mudd" Murphy's Claremont 56 imprint.

10. Everything Everything * Photoshop Handsome. (Another Music=Another Kitchen) The second single from these Manchester based local lads (well, three quarters) kicks off sounding like something from an 80's arcade game, (with lyrics on the subject too) before bursting into a catchy as fuck frantic sounding chorus about airbrushing someone's father, amongst other things!?! Well done to the lads on recently signing to Geffen, with a catalogue of tunes even better than this their debut album will definitely be in plenty other end of year lists for 2010 & not just mine!El Dee.(Fat Lee/Last Waltz/Dada)

Mark is resident DJ and promoter at 'KlickKliack'.Right then. That's all the charts dealt with so now in return for hanging with us through that we've posted up a stunning mix that's been seldom off my iPod for the last 8 weeks or so. An absolute killer from self proclaimed purveyors of cavernous dub, tearjerking ballads, apocalyptic lovers rock, gangsta house, smack hop, dancehall shoegazing, no-wave blues, slo-fi soul, love, lust, loss and sensuality 'King Midas Sound'. With tracks from session from King Midas Sound themselves as well as the likes of Tanya Stephens, Gregory, My Bloody Valentine, A.R. Kane, Burial, Little Dragon, Sade, Larry Heard and Scritti Politti.

Monday, 21 December 2009

"Good times for a change"I'm sure that's how Morrisey would have put it, however always being the blunt instrument I've never been be so eloquent. So to cut it short, if anyone is still reading, this is my last ever 'proper' post on this blog. In a moment of clarity I realised the time I was writing the shite I throw up on here I could be doing something worth while, that's all. So I've knocked it on the head. I'm sure that my good lady wife Geoff is MORE than capable to keep you up to date on stuff from time to time and I'll be putting the end of year lists up next week, but this is, for me, the end of 'Tourist'.

Be good.

'How Shakespeare Got His Groove Back.'

Ask the average man who wrote the plays entitled Hamlet, Romeo And Juliet, King Lear and Othello, and in most cases he'll snap confidently back with "The immortal Bard of Stratford-Upon-Avon." Ask him about the authorship of the Shakespearean sonnets and see if you don't get the same reply. Now put these questions to to certain literary detectives who seem to crop up every now and again over the years, and don't be surprised if you get answers like Sir Frances Bacon, Ben Johnson, Queen Elizabeth and possibly even Gabrielle Batistuta. The most recent of these theories is to be found in a book I have just read that attempts to prove conclusively that the real author of Shakespeare's works was Christopher Marlow. The book makes a very convincing case, and when I got through reading it I was not sure if Shakespeare was Marlowe or Marlowe Shakespeare or what. I know this, I would not liked to have cashed cheques for either one of them - and I like their work. No, in trying to keep the the above mentioned theory in perspective, my first question is this: If Marlow wrote Shakespeare's works, who wrote Marlowe's? The answer to this lies in the fact that Shakespeare was married to Anne Hathaway. This we know to be factual. However, under the new theory, it is actually Marlowe who was married to Anne Hathaway, a match which caused Shakespeare no end of grief, as they would not let him in the house. One fateful day, in a jealous rage over who held the lower number in a bakery que, Marlow was slain - slain or whisked away in disguise to avoid charges of heresy, a most serious crime punishable by slaying or whisking away or both.It was at this point that Marlowe's young wife took up the pen and continued to write the plays and sonnets we all know and avoid today. But allow me to clarify. We all realise Shakespeare (Marlowe) borrowed his plots from the ancients (moderns): however, when the time came to return the plots to the ancients he had used them up and was forced to flee the country under the assumed name of William Bard (Hence the term "Immortal Bard") in and effort to avoid debtors prison (hence the term "Debtor's Prison") Here Sir Frances Bacon enters into the frame innit. Bacon was an innovator of the times who was working on advanced methods of refrigeration. Legend has it he died attempting to refrigerate a chicken. Apparently the chicken pushed first. In an effort to conceal Marlowe from Shakespeare, should they prove to be the same person , had adopted the fictitious name Alexander Pope, who was actually Pope Alexander, head of the Roman Catholic Church and currently in exile owing to the invasion of Italy by the Bards, last of the nomadic hordes (the Bards gave us the term "immortal bard") , and years before had galloped off to London, where Raleigh awaited death in the tower.The mystery deepens for, as this goes on, Ben Johnson stages a mock funeral for Marlowe, convincing a minor poet to take his place for the burial. Ben Johnson is not to be confused with Samuel Johnson. He was Samuel Johnson. Samuel Johnson was not. Samuel Johnson was Samuel Pepys. Peyps was actually Raleigh, who had escaped from the tower to write Paradise Lost under the name of John Milton, a poet who because of blindness was accidentally hanged under the name of John Swift. This all becomes clearer when we realise that George Elliot was a Woman.Proceeding from this then, King Lear is not a play by Shakespeare but a satirical but a satirical revue by Chaucer, originally titled 'Everyone Loves a Gobby Northerner', which contains in it a clue to the man who killed Marlowe, a man known around Elizabethan times (Elizabeth Barret Browning) as 'Old Vic'. Old Vic became more familiar to us later as Victor Hugo, who wrote 'The Hunchback Of Notre Dame', which most students of literature feel is merely 'Coriolanus' with a few obvious changes. (Say them both fast.)We wonder then, was Lewis Carroll caricaturing the whole situation when he wrote Alice In Wonderland? The March Hare was Shakespeare, the Mad Hatter, Marlowe, and the Doormouse, Bacon-or the March Hare, Marlowe-or Carroll, Bacon and the Doomouse Marlowe-or Alice was Shakespeare-or Bacon-or Carroll was the Mad Hatter. A pity Carroll is not still alive today to settle it. Or Bacon. Or Marlowe. Or Shakespeare. The point is, if you're going to move, notify your post office. Unless you don't give a shit about posterity.Elliott Smith * Everything Reminds Me Of Her.Till, well, actually,,,, never.

Big love to anyone who read us and enjoyed, if not, go suck a fucking lemon and I'll leave the last word to some who deserves it.

"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. "

Friday, 18 December 2009

Well, we wern't gonna put any more posts up till the end of years polls next week but what with Christmas fast approaching we thought we'd toss you one last little prezzie to warm the cockles.

What with the shitehawks draining your account over at eBay and the near pathalogical devotion by a limited few, there are a few records that enter musical folklore as ungettable - with the average punter left to wonder what it must sound like and bemoan the fact that they'll never get near it.But hush, because what's this I've just come across in the memory banks of thye top secret supa-computa here at Tourist Towers? It's only I-F's 'Mixed Up In The Hague Vol. 1', a record that is widely credited as being the best Italo/Electro mix of the past decade, a mix that in it's original form changes hands for the kind of dollar-dollar bill that makes your eyes water despite it only ever being released on measly CDR.Seriously though, a crafty adjunct of the Parallax Corporation, I-F's legendary mix really has to be looked at as a masterclass in the art of mixing, taking the blueprint as classic Italio-disco and the golden-age of European electro, I-F stirs together the likes of Alexander Robotnick, Doctor's Cat, Klein & M.B.O. and Mr. Flagio alongside Patrick Cowley and Giorgio Moroder, before topping it all off with teh spannered Autechre-isms of E.O.G, updates from Alden Tyrell and beat-box stylings from Man Parrish. Blessed by the fact it doesn't contain a second of extraneous material (honestly - there's not a below par track in there), I-F capitalises on his keen ear by constructing a mix so intuitive it'll have you wondering how two decks and a mixer can sound so damn good.Rightly considered by most as who know it as 'the holy grail' of mixes that created the revival of italo-disco and still sounding incredibly fresh today even though it was put together almost 11 years ago. HOT!!

Monday, 14 December 2009

Right then, last of the 'mix week' series now. We've pretty much posted one of our favourite mixes every day for 10 days, (except for Saturday and Sunday) and with this last one we thought we'd bring you something a bit special.We bring you the thoroughly bloody excellent 'Psyche Out' mix by the Optimo lads that brilliantly alternates between acid house, sleazy funk & psychedelic rock. The mix was released on the equally bloody wonderful 'Eskimo' label back in 2005. The surprise was that hardly any time had passed since the critically acclaimed 'Kill The DJ' mix had come out, in fact it was a matter of a few months. Now without being cynical and accusing the chaps of trying to flood the market in a way not seen since Sasha & Digweed in the late 90's this seemed a rather strange move. That is until we find out that there was actually meant to be a nine month gap between the two mixes coming out but due to various problems holding up the release of 'Kill The DJ' they ended up coming out far closer together than anyone intended.Anyway, with 'Psyche Out' they wanted to do something very different from the 'Kill The DJ' mix and came up with the idea of doing something vaguely psychedelic in flavour. They also wanted to let the tracks play a little longer which is why this mix has half the number of songs that 'Kill The DJ' did. Apart from a couple of tracks, almost everything on this mix is at least ten years old with a couple of songs dating back to the 1960's. The trade mark quality control that the Optimo lads are known for dictated that even with the 'Kill The DJ' album still warm on the shelves it would have been far easier for them to put together a bunch of what were then current 'killer' tracks and bang it out to make a quick buck, but as ever they wanted to ensure that everything on it was something they genuinely loved ensuring that it wouldn't date quickly.Coming only a few months after their How to Kill the DJ 2 mix, Psyche Out is indeed heavy. HTKTDJ was impossibly flashy and virtuosic - all jump cuts between scene, sound, and mood. Psyche Out is less manic, more rolling, brooding, cosmic. If anything unites the 40 years of music here, it's the compulsive, hypnotic power of repetition. From psyche rock to krautrock to disco to acid house, the tribe vibe of dancing your arse off in a dark, smoky room (or zoning out) though that takes us dangerously close to Lazer Floyd territory so best to keep moving). Still, that definitely does trump doing coke in the toilets and 'networking' all night long.

Well, it's almost here, the end of the year known as 2009 and the close of the 1st decade of the noughties. We'll be going through all the usual best of's, top 10's and such next week in a bumper edition of Tourist once all the usual rasclarts involved have returned their lists and the overworked helper elves here at Tourist Towers have collected and collated all the festive data. Untill then, a couple of big, BIG hitters to tell you about this weekend as we dive headfirst into the collaterall damage of chardonnay, fingerfood and uncomfortable drunken gropes that is the Christmas party season. Regarde,,,,

Born in Iran in 1972, and since the early eighties a citizen of Denmark, he has been surrounded by music all his life. His father being a keen musician, Nima quickly found out that he wanted to follow in his old mans touring footsteps. At the tender age of 18 Nima had his first stint behind the decks at a local club and hasn't looked back since. From arriving in the capital of Denmark, Copenhagen, Nima instantly started making an impact on the clubscene, being a resident at the now legendary LUST nights which introduced the city to the concept of wednesday night clubbing alongside major guest DJs as Francois Kevorkian and Les Rythm Digitales back in the late 90's.Nima quickly got his own night at RUST CLUB keeping his strong position as one of the city's most important djs with his unmatched skills behind the decks. After two remixes for a major label which was part of a certified Gold single release, Nima now focused on creating his very own label WELT RECORDINGS.In the autumn of 2005 Nima moved IBIZA and managed to succesfully establish himself in the society of the island. Within few months he had made his way to PACHA and quickly created a buzz around his dj set's. Not long into 2006 he had landed himself a friday morning residency on the world famous terrace at SPACE. More recently in Ibiza he has been playing for big nights such as MONZA @ PRIVILEGE, IBIZA UNDERGROUND and who can forget his memorable set at ZOO PROJECT this year, many regarding this as the greatest party of the whole season.

With support:

DoogNeil HarkerShaun Estrago+ Special guest Dean Killen

in the boudoir Heavyweight DubstepDynamixFunk Ethics

Next up on Saturday we have this little number,,,,

Xmas Parties are supposed to be all about fun, so we've invited the original party starter, GREG WILSON, to host our Disco-Boudiour for our festive special.The man needs no introduction, so why the hell would we give him one!!!Simply not to be missed.

We've also invited 2 of our other favourite northern DJs to host the groundfloor, taking things that little bit deeper...

ALEX GRZYBOWSKI (Suruba, 2020Vision, Asylum)&SI QUICK (Habit)

As ever support comes from our residents...Geoff LeopardLast Waltz DJSRemember, this is our "Office Party" so bring your worst tie and your best corny chat up-lines, as it's going to be Miseltoe-a-go-go!

Friday, 11 December 2009

Disco Bloodbath has risen rapidly since starting back in mid 2007, beginning in that shady old Caribbean restaurant in darkest Dalston. With a mix of disco, italo and early house attracting a healthy following I'm told, that fancied a change from the usual fashionista style, trend led London nights. Bloodbath has changed venues now multiple times due to the sheer demand for space on the dance floor, and with The Sunday Times recently name checking them in an article about the capital's disco renaissance, it looks like the early success and promise is set to continue.As well as their own club chances are that if you've ever stumbled out of a steamy main room at Bugged Out!, Secretsundaze or Fabric and found yourself strutting to a string-laden disco odyssey, it's likely Disco Bloodbath were responsible.Whether the success of Disco Bloodbath and other heavyweight disco nights the like Horsemeat Disco, is a reaction to dance music's general shift to harder, fist-pumping sounds in recent years is not for me to say. It's clear that with a good crowd, a set of genuinely interesting DJ's and a real sense of fun, it's likely that the disco vibes will continue to reverberate round the country for a very long while.The mix kicks off with one of my favourite tracks of the year, the magnificent Buio Omega by Clap Rules and 0over the course of 90 minutes takes in tracks from the likes of Altair Nouveau, Bobby O, Legend, Phoreski, Azari & III, Neurotic Drum Band, Mystery and more.

Wednesday, 9 December 2009

Another of my favourite mixes from the last 18 months comes in the form of a mix that Salvatore Principato from seminal NY post-punk outfit 'Liquid Liquid' did for Tim Sweeney's excellent 'Beats In Space' radio show. Packed full, as you'd expect, of ABSOLUTE killers.Enjoy.

In a world where tags like 'Legend' and 'Genius' are bandied around with little or no basis for actual status, this is an amazing mix from a legend in the truest sense. Over the course of the 90 recorded here, Ron Hardy plays an absolute shed load of great tracks including 'One For The Money', 'Baby Wants To Ride', 'Welcome To The Club' etc and jams on some fucking crazy backwards version of 'Is It All Over My Face?'A master class in jacking house, acid and throwing the rule book out the window.

Monday, 7 December 2009

Joel Martin one half of 'Quiet Village' (along with Matt 'Radioslave' Edwards) weighs in with a mix of disco nuggets today. The mix features a number of rare-as-hen's-teeth tracks by the likes of Clymax, Touch of Class and Dennis Coffey. Touch of class for Tuesday innit.

Sunday, 6 December 2009

Something a bit different from the usual style of mixes we post now. This was given out as a CD-R at live shows and never officially released, as such, just take it kind of as the genesis of Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam into M.I.A.A lot of these tracks came out in other versions on M.I.A's first official album, Arular. On here, as the title suggests, Diplo smashes up the Arular vocals with incidiary stye taking in ragga, hip-hop, electro and 80s pop. The mix with Jay Z's Big Pimpin' is but one stoopid-dumb highlight.It's not big and it's not clever but just shut ya noise, throw this on and dance. Thats all innit

This extremely limited edition mixtape from the Irish DJ and producer is my personal favourite of his. This surfaced around the same time of Holmes' much loved 1998 'Essential Mix' and manages to mine the same infectious blend of uptown euphoria and downtown hysteria. Both are heavy with an extremely rich vein of 60's and 70's funk and r & b, but both are also stitched together and modernized by Holmes' interludes between the decades-old funk songs with instrumentals from The Free Association, Holmes and Steve Hilton's musical side project. Ranging from straight blues to jam-band likenesses to seemingly drug-induced acid trips, the creative instrumentals are so smooth and well-done that they appear improvisational, highlighting Holmes' skill in writing and musical dexterity.A greater feat is the fact that at no point is Holmes ever in danger of disappearing up his own arse by blindly digging more and more obscure tracks to impress the 'heads'. this is more like he's just dusting off a bunch of classics and showing them in a new light (as on remixes of Verve, Portishead, two of his own tracks as well as excellent cover versions of Light My Fire and Son Of A Preacher man).Despite the congestion of sounds and styles in this set, the mix is never busy or difficult to follow. And of course, it's never monotonous.

Reet then. the overworked hard drives here at Tourist Towers are getting a bit full at the minute so I'm gonna be posting some of my favourite old and new mixes this week, one per day so keep 'em peeled for some classic shizz as well as some that may be new to you. We start off with our friend Mr Smagghe, regarde,,,,,

Back in August, one of 'Tourists' favourite DJ's of recent times Ivan Smagghe, was invited to close the first edition of the 'Resonance Festival' which had taken place over the weekend on several landmarks of Avignon’s medieval city center. So he stepped in on the famous half-collapsed Avignon old bridge and played an extended set which probably wouldn’t fit in a 4am sweaty disco room but, according to all reports, just drove people insane on a red hot sunday afternoon.No tracklist on this one but amongst the epic 2 and a half hours he clocks up here are the likes of Weatheralls 'Doves' remix, and some tracks from WhoMadeWho, Chilled By Nature, Hector, Robert Hood, Roman Flugal and Walter Jones. Outstanding stuff. Low on BPM but high on substance.

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

There is no question that there is an unseen world. The problem is, how far is it from Stowell Street and how late is it open? Unexplainable events occur constantly. One man see's spirits, another will hear mysterious voices screaming 'Haway lasses, come and have a look at Lee's pants!'. What does this all mean? How many of us have not at one time or another felt an ice cold hand on the back of our neck while we were in the house alone? (Not me thank God, but some have.) What is behind these experiences? Or for that matter, in front of them? Is it true that men can foresee the future or communicate with a ghostly being? And after death is it good form to wear deck shoes?Fortunately, these questions about psychic phenomena are answered in my new, soon to be published book, 'BOO!' I have assembled a remarkable history of supernatural incidents that covers the whole range of psychic phenomena, from thought transference to the bizarre experience of two brothers on different parts of the globe, one of whom had a bath while the other got clean. What follows is a small sample of the most shit-scary and most cellebrated cases I came across during my research for the book.

Apparitions:

On Smarch the 16th in 1982 Mr CJ Dubsquat awoke in the middle of the night and saw his younger brother DP Dubsquat, who had been dead fourteen years, sitting at the foot of his bed kicking chickens. CJ Dubsquat being an inquisitive bloke naturally asked his brother what he was doing there, and his brother said not to worry, he was dead and was only back for the weekend. Dubsquat elder then asked his dead brother what it was like in 'the other world' and his brother advised him that it was not unlike Middlesbrough. He said he had returned from the grave to give his elder brother a message, which was that vests and carrot pants are a big mistake.At that point Dubsquat's wife entered the room to see her husband and his dead brother singing 'Down The Street' by Big Star with great fervor and promptly passed out. As dawn rose, the ghost walked through the wall, and Dubsquat elder, trying to follow, broke his nose.When I investigated the background to the case I found more evidence to strengthen the argument that spirits have a tendency to be mischevious which a number of noted psychic investigators of some note, attribute to a marked feeling of inferiority they have due to being 'deed'.

Apperitions are often associated with individuals who have suffered an unusual demise. DP Dubsquat for instance, had die under mysterious circumstances when a farmer accidentally planted him along with some turnips.

Precognition:

Mr. Fenton Allentuck describes the following preconative dream. 'I went to sleep at midnight and dreamed that was playing whlst whilst in a feild of chives. Suddenly the dream shifted and, I saw my grandfather about to be run over by a lorry in the middle of the street, where he was waltzing with a shop dummy. I tried to scream, but when I opened my mouth the only sound that came out was chimes and my grandfather was run over.I woke up in a sweat and ran across to my grandfather's house and asked him if he was going out dancing with a clothing dummy. He said of course not, although he had contenplated posing as a shepherd to fool some of his ememies. Relieved, I walked home, but learned later that the old man had slipped on a chiken-salad sandwich and fallen down in Eldon Square.

Precognitive dreams are to common to be dismissed as pure coincidence. Here a man dreams of a relative's, and it almost occurs. Not everyone is so lucky. In early 1992, Mr R Grimbles of Hendon dreamed he had won 'spot the ball' in the Chronicle. When he awoke his bed had floated out to sea.

Prognostication:

Finally, we come to Aristonidis, the Sixteenth-Century count whose predictions continue to dazzle and perplex even the most sceptical. Typical examples are:

"Two nations will go to war, but only one will win."(Experts feel this probably refers to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05- an astounding feat of prognostication, considering the fact it was made in 1547.)

"A man in Istanbul will have his hat spoiled."(In 1860, Abu Hamid, Ottoman warrior, sent his cap tp the dry cleaners, and it came back with spots on.)

"I see a great person, who one day will invent for mankind a grament to be worn over his trousers for protection while cooking. It will be called 'Abronn' or 'Aprone.'"(Aristonidis meant the apron, of course.)

"A leader will emerge in France. He will be short and will cause great calamity."(This is a reference to either Napoleon or Marcel Lumet, an eighteenth century midget who instigated a plot to rub mayonaisse on Voltaire.)

"In the Southern hemisphere a man named Peter Andre will rise with unexplicable powers and become famous."(No explination necessary.)

NOW IT'S MUSIC STUFF INNIT:Bunch of mixes this week from Brennan Green, Danton Eeprom, Andrew Weatherall and Leo Zero. There's also a pretty amazing 2 and a half hour live Ivan Smagghe mix I'm busy uploading at the mo' that I'll put up tomorrow so keep ya eye's peeled for that one. Also, the Brennan Green mix is in MP4 format so you might need to download a player for it, but I'd recommend that you did as the mix is pretty special. You can download the VLC player here for free to play MP4 format.

New York City DJ and producer Brennan Green has carved his own little niche in dance music's leftfield—between his genre-bending DJ sets and releases on Modal, Balihu, and his own Chinatown imprint, it's hard to predict exactly what kind of otherworldly sonic experience he's about to cook up. On this mix, Green takes it to a whole other level, largely ditching the house and disco sounds he's often associated with in favor of a lengthy psychedelic journey through downtempo, prog, funk, Krautrock, and other sounds on the outer reaches of the aural spectrum. With a protracted moment of silence dedicated to Michael Jackson segueing into a Bruce Springsteen re-edit, it's pretty clear that this isn't the average DJ mix.

A really tasty mix from last year from another of my favourite producers/DJ's Danton Eeprom now. This first appeard on the excellent 'Get The Curse' website and has been a staple on the stereo here at Tourist Towers ever since.

Strut's newest celebration of Ze Records' rich catalogue is a great snapshot of some of the influential label's classic jams - and it's been in heavy rotation on my CD player for the last month or so. I've always loved Ze's mix of rock and funk and disco and soul and post-punk and the truly diverse and very cool roster of bands. Leo Zero sheds light on even more quality tracks on this promo mix which includes several tracks not featured on the Ze 30 compilation and also acts as a window into Strut's next collaboration with Ze - an album of DJ edits of Ze tunes that include's edits from Leo Zero, Pilooski, Todd Terje, Rub N Tug, Idjut Boys and Optimo. In the meantime get yer groove on to this little mix!

Tuesday, 1 December 2009

Bit behind on the Tourist Blog this week due to having a 3 day rinse out at the weekend so here's a quick re-up from my other blog 'Thoughts On Love And Smoking' that I thought I'd share till I get some music up and put some semi-coherent writing together this week. Enjoy.

Carl Sagan was and still is a huge personal hero of mine and he would have been 75 years old last month if he was still alive. He was an educator, astronomer, best selling author, and creator and host of Cosmos, which to this day remains the most widely-watched series in the American T.V. channel PBS' history. He was every bit the hard-nosed scientist while able to somehow, simultaneously not just recognize but celebrate our humanity which he found to be every bit as wonderful and mysterious as the universe within which we somehow managed to find ourselves.He did many remarkable things remarkably well before leaving us too soon at the age of 62 in 1996. It seems fitting to remember his life, work and continued impact by noting the incredible things that have been discovered and achieved since his passing that he, no doubt, would have liked very much.Among those that come to mind are the jaw-dropping images that have been sent back from the Hubble Telescope. We have found evidence of water on Mars and the moon alike. And very recently NASA scientists have determined that amino acids, proteins precursors and the building blocks of life, have been detected on the surface of a comet.Not as contradictory as it may appear on the surface of things, Sagan was highly skeptical of sightings of UFOs and tales of abductions but was also one of the driving forces behind the quest for signs of life out there and served as a trustee for the SETI Institute whose core mission is to explore and explain the existence of life throughout the universe.He wanted us to celebrate our lives here on earth and to continue the search for it elsewhere. He simply asked that we embrace and employ good, sound methods, and he was genuinely, infectiously enthusiastic about that.Thanks to the wonders of the internet, we can revisit his groundbreaking series 'Cosmos' in part or in full any time on Youtube. (since none of us probably have the 12 hours to dig in right now)

"For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love." — Carl Sagan.

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Nation's Music Snobs Protest Predictable Use Of Metallica, Pantera etc, To Torture Prisoners.

WASHINGTON — Amid continued reports detailing the CIA's use of loud music to torture detainees at Guantánamo Bay, pop-culture elitists from across the country gathered in the nation's capital Monday to protest the uninspired song selections employed in the brutal treatment of inmates. "To remain silent about the abhorrent methods used to interrogate alleged enemy combatants would be a betrayal of the ideals we hold most dear," said New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones, a spokesperson for the loose coalition of music snobs. "I mean, 'Enter Sandman,' from Metallica's 1991 self-titled album? Really? Not to say there isn't some classic stuff on the torture playlist, but even my 12-year-old nephew would choose something a little more unexpected than Nine Inch Nails to shatter an utterly demoralized man's already tenuous grip on reality.""They could have at least picked an excerpt from Dream Theater's 'A Change Of Seasons EP' to play at 120 decibels for 14 hours a day," Frere-Jones continued. "If I were handcuffed to a chair with something as tired as Tupac's 'Keep Ya Head Up' blasting in my face, I'd probably pass out from boredom, despite the painful sleep deprivation stress positions."In addition to deriding the CIA's song choices, protesters attacked the playlist's lack of variety, saying the music selected to abuse prisoners fell mostly within the categories of heavy metal and contemporary Top 40 pop. 'Rolling Stone' senior editor David Fricke said the overall effect of the nonstop, unbearably loud music would have greatly benefited from delving into some of the subtler rock styles."What those poor people have had to suffer through is a shameful travesty," Fricke said. "Can you imagine being forced to listen to 'Biffy Clyro' and 'Savage Garden' all day long? Yes, the metal genre has a lot to offer, but why not broaden your palette a bit by throwing on something from Minutemen's 'Double Nickels On The Dime' or even Roxy Music's 'Avalon' after a few of the heavier tracks?"Added Fricke, "If the prisoner still had any idea who he was at that point, anything from those albums would totally blow his mind.Last month, 'Dean of American Rock Critics' Robert Christgau wrote a letter to the CIA offering to assist the agency in producing more sophisticated compilations for the systematic dehumanization of detainees, but he has reportedly not yet received a response. Though the activists all agreed that the musical tastes reflected in the state-sanctioned torture were laughable, the group was split along ideological lines into numerous factions. While many argued for the use of deep cuts from the Rolling Stones' 1972 double record Exile On Main St. to deafen prisoners and reduce them to whimpering children, others demanded that the infliction of irreparable psychological damage incorporate tracks by more esoteric modern artists like 'Simian Mobile Disco' and the 'Black Lips'.A small but especially vocal contingent tirelessly lobbied for the inclusion of at least one selection from Steely Dan's 1977 tour de force 'Aja', preferably the song 'Peg.'"Blatantly dismissing what the U.S. government has done to these men is an unconscionable miscarriage of justice," Pitchfork.com contributor Andy Ragazzo said. "I've been here for nearly six hours, and I haven't heard one person other than myself so much as mention the groundbreaking work of minimal techno and microhouse artist Ricardo Villalobos.""It almost makes me ashamed to be an American," Ragazzo added.

NY Times. Nov '09.

Thought I'd throw this up after Pete Herbert's brilliant set at Dada last week. This is the live recording of Phil Mison and Pete's back 2 back set at London’s 'Disco Bloodbath' on september 5th. Some proper solid grooves and disco classics. Download it and treat yourself.

While I'm on the subject of Dada, it seem's like the chaps are showing no signs of running out of steam with a cracking Christmas line up to come as well as a rather special party this Saturday with Magda and Stimming in the main room. I'm personally very excited about catching 'Foolish' Felix Dickinson upstairs in room 2 as I've been hearing some very good reports about him recently. If those 3 wern't enough theres also the Last Waltz DJ's, Jay Kilka and Dave Martin from Leeds 'Technique' night, local lad Binni of 'Cleer' & 'Error' fame and Dada resident Geoff Leopard on hand too. You can click here to check the Dada Christmas preview on Facebook with the likes 0f Benedict Bull from 'Skull Juice', electro-funk legend Greg Wilson and another of Leeds' leeding lights of the electronica scene, Alex Grzybowski.

Showing some more local love this here week, something a bit different from usual with a mix from friend of 'Tourist' Tris Gallagher. Tris weighs in with this epic slice of beats, breaks and all things chunky. If you want to hear some more of that type of stuff, and who wouldn't, I would recommend that you click here to check out Tris very nice blog 'Fire Still Burning'.

As well as all the afore mentioned goings on in town this weekend, I'll be making a rare appearence in my home city playing some rather fine records down at Newcastles finest alternative night at the cities finest alternative venue 'Dragnet @ theCUT'. Dragnet has rapidly taken up the mantel as the best non-conformist party in the area and as such I'll be trawling through my collection to play everything from NY punk-funk, Ze Records classics, mutant electronica, dub-disco and anything between, with a handful of our own edits thrown in to shake things up! Should be a cracker if I do say so myself. Check the 'Dragnet' Facebook page for more info on them here and keep an eye out for some amazing upcoming guest slots here soon.Hope to see y'all there.

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

Sadly, we start off again with news of another unfortunate death to report as Jerry Fuchs, the drummer for several bands, including !!!, The Juan MacLean and Maserati died on Saturday night after a fall down a Brooklyn elevator shaft, he was 34 years old.

So I lost a day in bed yesterday after drinking heavily on Saturday night rolling about in a casino with the chaps from Dada and Ewan Pearson after the club closed. Ewan again played a corker in the main room at The Cosmic and proved to be an absolute gent getting the shandy's in for all and sundry after hours. Mick, Geoff and El.Dee all played a belter upstairs in the boudoir too and Dada is rapidly taking shape as the go-to party for those looking for more forward looking dance music in Newcastle with some fantastic bookings coming up including Pete Herbert, Magda and Felix Dickinson this month alone. Anyhoo, that's more than enough nepotistic smoke blowing for the minute and onto some more reflective matters.I read an article in a local newspaper last week that reported that just down the road from Newcastle the port town of Blyth has been confirmed as having the dubious honour of having the U.K.'s largest proportion of people dependent on heroin. A staggering 600 people which is nearly 1 percent of the population. But it's still only 1 percent, which, anyone who's been through Blyth on a rainy Thursday afternoon will bare witness to, only makes you admire the will power of the remaining 99% who aren't on the horse, how do they get by? I can only imagine that the alcohol dependency levels in the area are absolutely astronomical. Surely the incidence of alcohol related brain damage must be the Soma that keeps the masses from rioting. Maybe it's one of many Canuteish schemes by the local authorities to stem the tide of opium addiction? Or maybe the abundance of smack is more insidious? The price of Heroin in the North is coincidentally, the lowest outside of Scotland and the areas drugs information posts provide jobs for dozens of people who might otherwise be unemployed, thats no accident is it?If that's not enough of a poke in the eye for the area, as well as the reported Heroin explosion the article also informed me that North Northumberland also has the highest incidence of heart disease and high blood pressure in the area. The diet of the North has for a long time been notoriously reliant on white sugar and white flour which constitutes an anti gastronomic, anti hygienic assault on the body, an assault that is undertaken with prolet-cultish pride and inverted snobbery. The twin poles of impressive obesity and hatchet faced high blood pressure are amply represented and although this diet is nothing to boast about or to be celebrated, it is. It's consumers are to be pitied and helped. Thing is, they all know this though.Such a slowly suicidal diet is darkly comic, we know this because crisply sizzling chunks of battered Jimmy Nail continue laughing at their own gags as they bite into them. You don't need to go to Switzerland, the chipshops round here will provide an effective euthanasia service for anyone looking.

Nice new mix now for you all to download from Glasgow's infamous Optimo lads which see's Wikes and Twitch on fine form as usual. Chopped into 2 bite-sized one hour pieces with the first hour taking in some Optimo classics like Den Haan's 'Release The Beast', the theme from 'Assault On Precinct 13' with other highlights include a remix of Midnight Stars 'The Midas Touch' before the second hour goes a bit more off the beaten track and we get treated to such delights as Suicide's Ghost Rider and 'California Dreaming' amongst others, so don't leave delay and get it downloaded quick!!

Optimo - On The Floor - Live at Joakim Milky Way Release Party, Paris.

Monday, 2 November 2009

It's always nice to be able to write some promo that you actually believe in, so it's a notible pleasure to be able to report that one of my personal favourite DJ's and producers Ewan Pearson will be touching down at Dada@The Cosmic Ballroom here in Newcastle this Saturday (7th of November).Ewan has been making records for a living for long over a decade now with notable releases on Soma, and the legendary Kompakt label, as well as a raft of singles and albums in various guises. His remixes for the likes of Depeche Mode, Chemical Brothers, Seelenluft, Cortney Tidwell and Freeform 5 have made him one of dance music’s most respected producers He has programmed for Goldfrapp and Gwen Stefani and his production credits include Tracey Thorn's acclaimed solo album 'Out Of The Woods', The Rapture's 'Pieces of the People We Love' and M83's latest 'Saturdays=Youth'. As a DJ Ewan's no slouch either, two CDs - SciFiHiFi Vol.1 for Soma and July 2007's fabric 35 were both nominated for Plug awards and his 2006 Resident Advisor Podcast was voted best of that year by the website's readers. A regular at clubs as varied as Privilege and Panoramabar and a resident at The Loft in Barcelona and the Robert Johnson in Offenbach, his sets - like the rest of his career - defy easy categorisation, marrying the independent and the underground with a pop sensibility that's all his own.If thats not enough for you there's also Newcastle's favourite backroom residents El.Dee and Mick Rolfe taking care of all the disco and slightly more eclectic business that you can shake a very groovy stick at upstairs in room 2. What you waiting for? Get with it nit-wits!!

Monday, 26 October 2009

Time,,,,,,,, time, longevity and all things temporal. Those are the things that have been piquing my interest this week. Now the traditional mode of temporality is usually defined as 'a linear procession of past, present, future.' However, who is to say that this commonly acknowledged formula is the same for everyone? After all, we're told in school and church from the very youngest age that 'God created the heaven and the Earth and all things therein in 7 days,' and still had time to kick back and have a roast on the 7th day. Now by any measure that's some going! We all know that the lads got a good engine on him like a kind of celestial Michael Essien, an Omnipotent midfield dynamo all full of hustle, box to box from the first to last whistle and all that, but 7 days? Whats to say that one of Gods days wasn't a hundred, a thousand or even a million of our years? Relatively speaking the increments of measuring time have been argued over by every sect and religion since the beginning of,,, er,, time. Which brings me untidily to my point. The particular facet of time and it's measurement I've suddenly found rammed in my face is that of geniality and heritage. The amount of websites and magazine advertising now taken up with people who profess to be able to trace back your ancestry. Why do they do it? And more importantly, why do so many people come to the North in search of their ancestors who are, to them, no more than names. It seems like the North East of England, in particular Northumberland is second only to Scotland for people tracing their humble working class routes, it's as though we were the master default switch on every genealogists computer. They come in droves, always middle class, dressed is brand new yellow cagoules and expensive walking boots to pour over all but illegible copper plate and Parrish registers with scant regard for the damage inflicted on their eyes. They scrape the lichen from headstones in Alnwick. They walk beside tiny streams in Morpeth where someone with rickets who two century's ago happened to share 100% of their Mothers surname and 1.575 of their DNA may, just may have walked in inadequate foot ware. What is wrong with them?What is the current obsession with 'Roots'? You could say it's a lot to do with the Catalans and Basques. They, like Northerners have always been people who's main contribution has been human export. Brain, muscle and sinew for hire. From the Newcastle and Durham miners who selflessly went to fight Franco's annexing of Barcelona to Northern Women chucking themselves under the Queens horse's, spoiling Royal Ascot in search of the vote. There has always seemed to be a Northerner of some gender at the front of the mob to throw the first brick. Some may say that this is a classic example of Northern ignorance and belligerence but I'd rather mark it down as a steadfast commitment to the cause. There's always been a culture of strong left wing political identity in the North as well as the more publicised intolerance and racism we're so often accused of. But this strong identity and working ethic displayed in our grand parents and their parents has always been the main driving force for Northern people leave here in search of a bigger stage and of a living wage and the chance of material improvement. That's why we have these middle class, Sunday afternoon family tree enthusiasts bothering our beer gardens of a weekend. It's largely a matter of economical survival, their ancestors made a hard-nosed decision to leave and their descendants make the soft-nosed decision to come back and claim some Northern heritage by proxy. The stuff in their veins is blood group 'Wey-aye' and when they bleed they bleed a coal and Brown Ale mix. The internet has been a boom for both pornography and genealogists, unsurprisingly as the fundamental principle for both is the same, incremental. There must always be more. More participants, more contortion, more Grand Parents, more second cousins. It's not enough to trace back 2 or 3 generations. They need to find the rusty pick axe that their great grandfather 14 times removed used to cut the first lump of coal out of Durhams first coal face.All the while telling themselves the lie of the 'good old days'.Now as corrupt as the Northern vernacular has become, we have the good fortune to speak a form of the English language which, unlike Arabic or Sicilian, has a future tense.Why not concentrate on the regeneration in the area, of the quayside in Newcastle, the award winning Sage Buildings or the Millennium Bridge rather than the rose tinted-half remembered, tiresome tales of young northern scamps and the elaborate comic ruses created to prevent their angry mothers from discovering their chronic truancy. These to me are far less interesting. Yet still people insist on concentrating on coo-ing over scratchy-sepia toned pictures of kids in flat caps and tatty knee length trousers holding onto ropes attached to malnourished pit ponies. Remember, there is another North East, vital, living, untarnished places with energy and a greater delight. Places with no quasi Victorian-ancestral claim on us. Where the yolk of a ready made collective history is absent. One that we can talk of in the future perfect rather than the past historic. Places where we can choose to go towards rather than come from. Places with potential, where anything is possible, where everything is waiting to happen.That's all for now. But how long is now?

Here's some tunes for you now. Can't be arsed to write owt about them as I'm still recovering from the flu. Needless to say they're all pretty much top draw so download them if ye want,,,, or not, I don't care hew!!!!!

Couple of mixes for you too from my man and friend of Tourist Lee Aisbitt. I managed to mix them up last week but these ones are in full 100% working order. First up a brilliant bit of gear from the legendary Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez with a mix of rare grooves and 80's boogie then we have some clssy future house from flavours of the month 'Azari & III'.Grab them quicktime blad!

Dada was JUMPING and Binni (Cleer, Error) pretty much obliterated the dancefloor.With honourable nods being required for Ward10's amazing warm up skills and to the Last Waltz DJs, for keeping room 2 packed and chugging all night.

Neville's Disco also threw a one-off party at the cities favourite Disco-Deli with Mo Morris (A Mountain of One) and Bad Passion Project, which rumour has it was a fantastic yet intimate affair.

Then on Sunday, Last Waltz got it's feet under the table at it's new home, theCUT.The union appears to be a match made in Heaven, or at least made New York, Berlin or Fenham, three areas that were obvious touchstones in the creation of the venues unique deconstructed aesthetic.

We would say that counts as a good weekend for clubbers in Newcastle!

This weekend sees Dada throwing a Halloween Costume party featuring local ones-to-watch JAUNT> and Underground Disco Sensation PHORESKI headlining the First-Floor Boudoir.(Here's a facebook link for all of you social networky types... http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=161929538955&ref=ts)

Now, for some music...

Friend of the Blog Very Jon (Very Very, 22 Digits) has given us this EXCLUSIVE re-edit of current (Little) Big-Thing, Little Boots' track "New In Town".Check out Jon's other non commercial blog "Smels Like Teen Speling" for, erm... stuff?http://smelslykteenspelling.blogspot.com/

Little Boots - New in Town (Very Jon ReWhatever)http://www.zshare.net/audio/67539936eb42692f/

Keeping up with the local theme, we've heard tell that some of our readers may actually be into Dubstep (?).Quite why we would not dare to guess, but in the spirit of giving the people what they want (other than public hangings, animal porn and more Primark Stores) here's a short mix from local Dubstep adjutant and founder of local purveyors "Heavyweight", Adika "Dynamix" Oates.Er, they do um... "Big ting" etc etc etc.

Wednesday, 14 October 2009

In view of the sad news that Liam Maher the erstwhile frontman with 'Flowered Up' died yesterday I decided to start with a quick nod to him and the band and instead of posting something obvious I had a dig about to find something I could put up and remembered I still had this little gem. Released a year after their break up, 'Better Life' was the last ever single from Flowered Up. Recorded at the sessions for their uncompleted second long player, this was a taster for what that album was going to sound. After having a listen back to it makes it all the more disappointing that it was never finished.

Now then, in my continuing efforts to stop people from betting on when I'm going to be found dead upside down in a pile of bad drugs clutching my record bag in the toilets of some godforsaken boozer I'll skip over the details of the last couple of weekends narcotic fuelled stoopidity and get straight down to business by sorting out your weekends maneuvers first of all. Exciting times here in Newcastle these days as positively spoiled for choice this weekend. Saturday night offers up a positive embarrassment of riches starting with Dada at The Cosmic Ballroom where things continue to be at the cutting edge of the, errrr, cutting edge as their weekly excursions into all things disco, techno and house related bring you a bona-fide local Techno Legend...Binni - the man behind behind two of the North-Easts most forward thinking Techno parties, Error_ and more recently Cleer. There's also support from residents the excellent 'Ward 10'. Upstairs in room 2 expect the usual fun and games from Mick Rolfe & El.Dee.Should you choose your beats a tad more obscure, don't worry, the city has catered for you too my friend as the Neville's Disco lads pull off the not inconsiderable feat of hosting Mo Morris from A Mountain Of One as well as The Bad Passion Project, what looks like being a cracking night will be going off in one of Newcastle's literally most intimate venue's at the DB Social.If that's not enough for you then there's also the opening of Newcastle's newest club space theCUT. as the people behind the cities long running 'Jukebox' night continue their carnal lunar activities with the brand spanking 'Dragnet' night. This promises to be an all out celebrations of 'good rocking Sat night music' cutting across new wave, disco, no wave, punk funk, old school hip hop/electro, indie dance and non ironic pop classics - and because of the inspiration behind the wonderful venue - all wrapped around a heavy New York theme.

Next, some tracks from a bunch of producers who I've been repping for a while now. Number 4 in the 'Cliche Breaks' series on Cosmo Vitelli's continually excellent 'I'm A Cliche' label has four belting track on it from the likes of Richard Senn & Cazbee, Pierre Wax, Vitelli himself and Jacques Renault who weighs in with 'Sweet Harmony' which is actually based on his mix of GeorgioMoroders 'I Wanna Rock You' which was doing the rounds on bootleg a year or so ago.Al Usher is more notably known for high profile mixes for artists the likes of Amy Winehouse and Fiest and as being Ewan Pearsons partner in the 'Partial Arts' team than for his own work. I've posted up probably my favourite track of his recent work with the 'Lullaby For Robert' EP which comes loaded with some A+ remixes from GattoFritto, Mark Seven and Prins Thomas. A top package.American producer Levon Vincent is another chap who's output I've been following for a while now, since putting out his debut 'No More Heros' in 2002 in fact. After that he was pretty quiet on the production front choosing instead to concentrate on his DJ work consequently only putting out a handful of well received 12"s untill late 07' when he released the brilliant Invisible Bitchslap E.P. Since then, releases like 'Minimal Soul', 'Six Figures' and 'The Medium Is The Message' along with an excellent Resident Advisor podcast and a raft of great tracks on his own Deconstruct Music label, Vincent has been steadily building a reputation of some note of late. He also teamed up with Jus' Ed for the 'These Games E.P.' which I've posted below. Impeccable, classy house music.Next, I don't think I really need to write a meandering biog of Maurice Fulton so enough to say that he again proves that he is still king of future soul with his mix of SMD's, 'Cruel Intentions'.Finally there's 'I Get Deeper' from the unknown 'Late NiteTuff Guy Edits' EP. I picked this up on white label in Phonica on spec a few months ago on recommendation from the staff. 4 edits, four brilliant tracks. 8 quid well spent! 'I Get Deeper' is a sexy slice of deep Chicago house. Check it!!

Couple of mixes to round things off this week. A brilliant bit of work from the afore mentioned Bad Passion chaps who take care of business with their 'Glass Unicorn' Mixtape. In true 'laaahndaaahn' style and there's no bleeding tracklist, however I've had a listen to it and highly recommend you take 10 mins to download it as it's a blinder!! As well as that, we've got a mix that we picked up at the excellent Surround Around Sound blog last month. A good hour and a bit of some of the best forward looking house music about, regarde.

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Now here dis...

We had set this blog up primarily to promote our Monthly TOURIST parties at the Cosmic Ballroom, but seeing as they've since slipped this mortal coil, we're now just doing it because we like to remind ourselves of how clever we are (with, like... words n'shit).

If you think there's anything on the blog that infringes copyright or the boundaries of acceptable taste, feel free to drop us line.

Dependent on the size of you or your legal team we'll either capitulate post haste, or tell you where to go.